Mr. Speaker, this past July my friend and our former colleague, Carmen Provenzano, suddenly passed away. He was Sault Ste. Marie's federal member of Parliament from 1997 until 2004. He was a loving husband to Ada, a caring father to their children, a devoted member of the community, a hard-working MP and a great friend. His funeral mass was a wonderful testimony to his life.

Carmen will be missed but in many ways he will be remembered, including through the recent establishment of the Carmen Provenzano Memorial Cup to be given to the Sault Ste. Marie or Blind River team that does best in each of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League seasons.

Whether it was fighting to save the Sault's Algoma Steel Plant, working to ensure FedNor funding northern Ontario as our caucus chair, fighting effectively behind the scenes to advance community projects or doing the countless smaller but important things he did for his constituents, he will be fondly remembered as a man who loved his family, his friends, his community and Canada.